“The message is simple. CIVIL – Center for Freedom and the citizens say – end dissipation!”, said today Xhabir Deralla, President of CIVIL – Center for Freedom, before the organization officially submits its demands to the Parliament of the Republic of North Macedonia for the abolishing of the privileges of officials.

“Simply, the enormous expenses that we have for appanages, for pensions, for lifelong pensions and other benefits they use, according to the laws, which precisely in this parliament have been passed in recent years and decades, we consider should be seriously revised and abolished, or at least be reduced to a decent normal human level. This way it looks like Macedonia is a Sultanate, in which the bosses are those who are in power. In every sense of the word. Whether they are local sheriffs or former presidents, they are simply sucking out the good of these people, these citizens who simply cannot take the burden anymore”, stated Deralla.

“The appanages, pensions and other privileges and benefits that previous and current official have are costing millions of euros. This simply has to stop immediately!

Today we will submit a demand, which in the public had a very strong response, and is in regards to the privileges and benefits of both the current and former officials, as well as elected and appointed persons. And we will be waiting for a response from the parliamentarians.  These problems have been created in this house of legislature, these systems for drawing out the resources of the citizens have been built in this house, and it is in this house that we expect, or more specifically, categorically demand for these injustices to be corrected!

Perhaps one might think that the occasion for this address of ours before Parliament is the assumed pension of the former President of the Republic of North Macedonia, and yes, perhaps that was the occasion, but we have long ago, very long ago spoken that the privileges, benefits and dissipation of the government at any government level have to stop and that it cannot go on anymore. This implies that this Parliament needs to revise the legal provisions that give them enormous benefits and also to abolish a large part of them, and of course, to do this in the most urgent possible procedure.

In a welfare state as is the Republic of North Macedonia, according to the Constitution, we must no longer allow not even one denar to be spent pointlessly, because someone here in parliament decided to give huge benefits both to current officials and to those whose mandate has ended” he said.

М. Ivanovska
Camera: Dehran Muratov
Editing: Arian Mehmeti
Photo: Biljana Jordanovska